writing

Friday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. The history of this day goes back to the early 1900’s with women from around the world marching and striking for peace, food and their right to vote. Now the day is still celebrated world wide, some countries have a national holiday, some totally ignore it and some just pay lip service. Here in Canada the day is acknowledged and women may march for a cause and some introduce a project that is close to their hearts like the shoebox project.

Photo by energepic.com on Pexels.com

I describe myself as a woman, wife, mother, grandmother, and feminist. I firmly believe that women are equal in all ways. We are not superior to others but equal. I was fortunate to be raised in a female household. Dad died when I was nine and my mother remarried a couple of years later to a man who was in the navy so he was gone six or more months of the year. So myself, two sisters, my nana and my mum were all together in one house. My mother was totally female, petite, always in full make up and well dressed. But she could handle a hammer or screwdriver and built our TV stand herself and then built and replaced our wooden garage doors. We were taught we could do anything and encouraged to try many projects. I was athletic, excelled in English and history and did well in some sciences. The world was just waiting for me. I truly believe I was very fortunate to have the upbringing I did. We don’t need to tear down other women to achieve our goals but we do need to hold out a helping hand, ready and willing to lead the way. Because our goal is equality, we shouldn’t try to tear down men either just to achieve our goal of equality. Men and women must learn to treat each other with respect, each recognizing the other’s unique talents.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This year, in Canada, our theme for International Women’s Day is Innovate for Change. There is a strong emphasis on STEM. Girls are being encouraged to study science, technology, engineering, and math. The female brain is equally able to learn these subjects and, if their interest is there, study them and do well. Previously, women were discouraged from these studies, now they really are being encouraged. Women are being empowered. That’s not a catchphrase, it’s a truth. Our daughters, nieces, sisters are achieving empowerment when they are able to achieve a place in the decision making process, the ability to access opportunities available to them without limitations and restrictions. To achieve this we must celebrate the contributions of women and renew our efforts in achieving gender equality.

In high school, I was told I could become a nurse, teacher, secretary or housewife. I chose nursing and had a pretty good career. I mentored many new nurses, I stood up to the bullying system on behalf of myself and others, I taught a bit and I helped make my workplace, and others, safer. Secretly I wanted to study journalism and write, but for whatever reason I just didn’t have the drive to do it when I was that young. I believed nursing was my path and I was damn good at it. But I would have been a fantastic journalist. So to any and all who are reading this, encourage those girls and women to do the work that they know they can. Do the work they really want to do. Be FANTASTIC!!

Here I am, finally writing on my blog again. I always say I’m going to do this routinely but never seem to accomplish my writing goals. I know It’s a matter of discipline and routine, neither of which I am not good at. Last year I made it a resolution. Broke that one quickly. This year I didn’t make a resolution which was just as well because I would have broken that one too. Why can’t I figure out a way to just write? Is it that my life and experiences just aren’t very interesting? Nonsense! Everyone has a story! I’m just a lazy writer and have to get to it!

Because I wasn’t elected in the municipal election, I had to spend some time afterward cleaning out my office and saying goodbye. The experience wasn’t as traumatic as I thought it might be although I do miss the staff I worked with and I’ll pop in every so often to say “hi”. After the office clean out, the hubby and I took a trip to visit his mother in Cape Breton. She’ll be ninety-four soon and is still mostly independent and is just a joy to visit. We’ll likely go back in the spring too, after all we know we won’t have her forever and want to visit as often as possible.

When we got back in mid-November, the Christmas rush was upon us. I had done some shopping, but had to finish and wrap everything, plan a gathering for Boxing Day and before I knew it we were into a new year! The hubby and I joined a service club, since I now had more time, and that has been a bit of a whirlwind too. I’m not one to sit back and let others do the work, so I got involved in gathering and organizing all the paperwork so the club can move forward when they are ready for new projects. I am enjoying this time to do some valued work and to help contribute to the charities that support those less fortunate in my community.

And so those are my pile of excuses for taking so long to get back to writing, something I really do enjoy. I’ve also gone back to writing in a different format and some day maybe I’ll publish a novel or a short story. Such a great way to express oneself.

For the last eighteen months, I have been serving my city as a local councillor. Yes I am retired from my career as a registered nurse, but still keeping busy. My hubby and I had just sold our Florida mobile home when I got a phone call asking if I would be interested in serving as a councillor. I had lost the 2014 election, love my city and enjoy the give and take of politics, so of course I said yes. I really enjoyed that stint and decided to run in the election of 2018. Sadly I did not win this one either, so I am grateful for the experience of the last year and a half.

Now I am in the process of cleaning out my office in city hall, it amazes me how much paper and paraphernalia I have accumulated, but I have just three file drawers to do and I’m clear. I will continue to go into the office until the end of the month when the new council is sworn in, there are still questions to answer and residents to help. I do believe I have done a good job during my tenure but now it’s time to look forward.

So I ask myself what will I do now? I believe its important to keep our brains active as well as our bodies, so I am writing again. Starting with this blog and maybe, one day, a novel. I’ll try the crafty thing again, though I’m not very good at it. I’d like to have a little home business that doesn’t involve booking parties or selling to my friends and family. We have just moved to a rather large home with our two sons and for half of every month, two grandchildren are here. This will be interesting.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

One benefit is that we are opening boxes we’ve stored for four years. I’ve already sold a couple of things on the local buy and sell site. Hmm maybe this is a business in the making. It won’t make a ton of money but it could be fun and turn a wee profit. I guess that’s one thing to do and judging from the number of boxes, it’ll keep me busy this winter. I discovered some sterling silver pieces that came from my mother and grandmothers, that are quite tarnished. It will take a few days to clean those up and see what they are and if they are worth keeping. We’ve already asked our boys and their wives if they want any of our stuff and got the predicted “no thanks” so I’ll see if I want anything.

I’m going to volunteer with the local Crime Stoppers group and have started knitting scarves for the needy program here. I already have a day trip planned with a friend for next week. If we enjoy ourselves, I’ll write about it. Heck, I’ll write about it even if we don’t enjoy ourselves. And of course we have the Christmas prepping starting soon. I think my days will be pretty busy.

Once again I am apologizing for not blogging as frequently as I promised. I actually made a New Year’s resolution to blog weekly and, as with most resolutions, that one got broken too. I did have a good reason though and you’re going to hear all about it.

I retired from nursing six years ago. The work was becoming hard physically and mentally I felt it really wasn’t as challenging as it could be. I needed something different. I thought I would relax, do some writing, study the use of crystals in health and healing, maybe travel a little, further explore my interest in politics. I did run for political office, unsuccessfully but that was okay. The hubby and I had always wanted, we thought, to spend our winters in a warm place and of course be home the rest of the year. We did travel to Great Britain and had a fabulous trip. We bought a mobile home in Florida and a trailer in Ontario, did some sight seeing, golfing, learned shuffleboard, played cards, all the things snowbirds do, but things change.

We really weren’t satisfied with that lifestyle. When you have worked all your adult life, it’s very hard to make the switch. We missed our sons and their families. The grandchildren were growing up and we weren’t there to see it happen for half the year. Other than being warm all winter, the Florida lifestyle was not for us. Nor was the trailer life we envisioned having here in Ontario. I missed having my “things” around me, I missed my family, and I missed my friends. So we sold our mobile home in Florida and our trailer in Ontario and got ourselves a nice little apartment, easy to care for and once again I have what I need and want at hand. But as I said, things change.

We sold our Florida place in mid-February with the new owners taking possession on March fifteenth. Just after the sale but before we came home we heard that one of our council members had passed away unexpectedly. As I said, I had run unsuccessfully in the city election, three were elected and I came in fourth so I wasn’t sure if her passing would have any effect on me. I got a phone call a few days later from a private citizen to ask if I still lived in the city. Then after a few more days, I received a call asking that, if the city council decided to appoint someone for the last eighteen months of the term and if I was nominated, would I accept the appointment. Since I had long wanted to serve my city and it’s residents, the answer was an easy one for me. I said yes and was subsequently appointed about five days after returning from Florida.

Whew and that’s how I got to this point in my retirement. Things change and I have a whole new life happening right now. I love it! I am working again but I’m not physically exhausted. I’m using my brain, my listening skills, my public speaking skills, what I hope are my people skills. I am a bit obsessive-compulsive at work. I like a clean desk at the end of the day, accomplished not by just putting everything away but by answering the messages & solving the problems. I am trying to make my city just a little bit better and am thoroughly enjoying this new life.

I want to blog and write, but I am very slow to publish. The first week was great, I followed the challenge precisely, but somewhere in the second week I really lost momentum. Was I suffering from the procrastinator’s excuse, writer’s block? No, I’m still writing a bit every day but I am not finishing, refining, or publishing. Herein lies the problem, and then it hit me! Because my main theme is about my life as a retired person, I’ve been trying to include many topics at once instead of assigning myself a single theme and writing about that one until it is done at least for the time being. It may be one blog or five, but they all should be following the theme of the week or month. So back to square one and using a proper schedule to write about the topic. This is so important and I only just realized how important it is for me to follow an organizational chart.

I am a former operating room nurse so I tend to be a little obsessive-compulsive about work, most of us are and this carries over somewhat into our personal lives. When I retired, I decided to bury that part of me and allow my brain free rein. This probably wasn’t the best idea as now my brain goes in a hundred different directions a day, never really settling into any one line. Again back to square one, picking a theme and writing about it.

Instead of writing just out of my head, I must also start researching my blog topics more thoroughly. This is very important and since I don’t know everything about everything, I don’t want to give wrong information either, it’s time to put on the research hat and go to Google or Wikipedia to get educated. My experiences, or those of others, will round out the blogs nicely. see? Now I have a plan!

So please bear with me as I begin again with this month’s topic. Day trips in Southern Ontario will be my focus and I hope you’ll follow along and enjoy this exploration of the southern portion of the province where I live. If you read and enjoyed my fifth blog, Weekend Getaway, you’ll appreciate my next one about the marine railway.